|
Motronic posted:Do you have an expansion tank on the outlet side of the water heater? Do you know what pressure your water is at normally and then what your hot water pressure is after a full water heater refresh/heating cycle before opening any taps? I currently have NO expansion tank at all, not on hot or cold water sides of the tank. I do not know what my pressures are, other than I am city supplied water, and they just relatively recently replaced both my meter/regulator (not even sure if the meter typically has a regulator, or if that's done at the street-side) and I wouldn't say my pressure is particularly more or less than any other place I've lived, so probably in the normal 50-60 PSI range?
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2023 18:44
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 18:29 |
|
|
Lately, my electric water heater wasn't performing very well lately. This is the second time in just over four years. Hot water wouldn't last very long (as in, a ten minute shower would require me to have the faucet about 80% to the hot side (and the mixing on the new tub faucet was set to "hottest)), despite being a 50 gallon tank and heating elements that were only 4 years old. I got new ones, 4500 W each with new thermostats and...it's not much better. I have both thermostats set to about 145, but I tested the water coming out the kitchen tap and bathroom tap, and kitchen is just under 120 F, bathroom is just over ( I assume it's because the kitchen is on the far side of the house from the water heater, the bathroom is right above it.) I have the tiniest of wiggle room left in the thermostat to set them to "150 F", which might ,make it close to 125 F, but it's clear the tank itself might be the issue. Def. a good deal of corrosion on the old elements when I removed them, and I wasn't able to replace the anode, because it's the bitch of a kind where it's built into the outlet pipe. Single piece, and I don't have three feet of clearance above it, so I'd ALSO have to remove the inlet pipe to tilt it to get the new one in there...not something I had any interest in. At one point I was thinking about finally getting a gas hookup and going to an on-demand water heat, BUT lately I'm thinking I should go to a heat pump water heater. Between state rebates, local utility rebates, and federal tax credits...I basically can get a unit for free, and just pay for the install. Here's a list of units that I can the rebates from. Is there a "goon standard" recommended one? Ideally 220V, since I can then just reuse the same electrical already there. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11m7tXVRpX3a5YdaLwSrUv_0s3wyLfpES/edit?usp=drive_link&rtpof=true&sd=true Unfortunately, selecting 220v vs 120v wasn't a filterable option. DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Dec 20, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Dec 20, 2023 21:15
|
|
|
Here are the two elements:  The first one had similar corrosion near the base like the second one, but it fell off when I put it in the trash can. Here's the setup, you can see rusting and paint peeling from mostly the outlet, but a little at the inlet:    And a little corrosion in both the inlet (blue) and outlet shutoff valves, and a bit at the tee above the hot outlet:    No other significant corrosion anywhere else, just a few spots of green, nothing like the build up at the water heater.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 20, 2023 23:55
|
|
|
Motronic posted:You have a water chemistry problem and need to get a proper water test from your local ag extension to find out exactly what is wrong and how to mitigate it. I'm on city water, so I'll try to find info on the most recent tests. I know a good chunk of my neighborhood have houses with electric heat and hot water, so maybe I'll also check with neighbors and see what they do? And that post about the mixing valve was my old house with sweet lady DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Dec 21, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Dec 21, 2023 05:20
|
|
|
Shifty Pony posted:There's also a sacrificial anode rod in the water heater that should have been corroding before everything else thanks to the magic of electrochemistry. Oh, I know: quote:I wasn't able to replace the anode, because it's the bitch of a kind where it's built into the outlet pipe. Single piece, and I don't have three feet of clearance above it, so I'd ALSO have to remove the inlet pipe to tilt it to get the new one in there...not something I had any interest in. I mean, with how terribly things seem to be going, I guess it might be worth actually doing that whole process; but at this point with how badly it's heating with brand new elements, I think the damage has been done and a new anode won't save it. The other guys are right that I need to fix the underlying water issue first, and then I can get a new water heater. Fake edit: Well, there might be just enough room above the water heater to replace the anode if I can just slightly push the outlet pipe out of the way after detaching it, but again...I think it's too late for this water heater. Real Edit: Here's my town's water test results from 2022, as far as I can tell, there isn't anything that REALLY stands out as being crazy: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/sites/default/files/tiles/2022%20Consumer%20Confidence%20Report_Final_0.pdf I'm suspicious of the iron because I get an absolute TON of reddish/orange staining, though I've been told it could also be a bacteria? I clean my bathroom weekly, but I still get spots of pinkish orange stain starting to form in the corners where the tub wall meets the tub on the silicone, where the water sort of sits and doesn't dry well. Which, yeah, again, bacteria would like those spots too, but I'm just not ruling out any options, here. I will probably have to just get my own water tested, maybe the pipes in my neighborhood are failing or something so whatever is in my water isn't accurately reporting on a collected average. DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 15:34 on Dec 21, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Dec 21, 2023 15:20
|
|
|
I've got test strips and one of those little garden probes, so I'll check those out tonight.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 21, 2023 20:04
|
|
|
Well poo poo: That's the (new) main thermostat for my water heater. I look it out and noticed it was wet behind it, right where it sits up against the tank. I think the nipples at the top are so corroded now that some water is leaking in the gap behind the outer panel and insulation/inner panel, and it caused it to short out...at least that's all I can guess? As far as I can tell, the wiring was correct. The scary part is it didn't trip the breaker for the water heater... though I think the small, internal breaker on the thermostat itself tripped first? But now its' absolutely new water heater time, AND it's the lovely benefit of an emergency. I have a friend with an old, but working, water heater so I might take that just as a "need a water ASAP" type of deal before looking into a permanent replacement. And my water seems fine, at least as fine as anyone else's. I just think the problems all trace back to a very old water heater (the only date on it I could find was an Energy Star label dated 1994, don't know if that means that was also the tank's install year. Byut probably.) So yeah, nearly 30 year old tank, odds are the anode never changed.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 1, 2024 20:25
|
|
|
E: Nevermind, wrong thread.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 22, 2024 15:35
|
|
|
X-Posted from Fix it Fast: Any suggestions on how to fix a "loose" drain stopper on a newly installed sink/faucet? Delta faucet, model not known but I can look at the box when I get home. Here's what I mean when I say "loose": https://i.imgur.com/SawVU4p.mp4 Before you come in and say "you don't have the horizontal pivot rod going through the hole at the bottom of the stopper", I assure you, I do. It might not be apparent in the video, but I was pulling up on it, and the rod IS through the hole. It's just that, near as I can tell, the relative size of the hole on the stopper to the rod is too big, so there's a LOT of wiggle room (literally.) I found maybe one other person who had this issue: https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeImprovement/comments/kqix6f/delta_sink_drain_stopper_jiggles_in_place_am_i/ They caved and just ordered the "pop up" version where you just push it in/out. I suspect I might have to do that eventually, but I'm wondering if I don't want to spend money, I can just fill the hold at the bottom of the stopper with some sort of moldable epoxy type of substance, then make a new, smaller, hole in that? The only other thing I can think is that the pivot rod is also moving too much, which... yeah, I can believe that, because the holes on the vertical connecting trod that connects the pivot rod to the drain stopper are also too big, and there's a lot of play:  All I can think to fix this, aside from the same wacky idea w/ epoxy, is to try and get that spring clamp to be tighter/get a new one/attach it with a nut...somehow (it's not a threaded rod, so...?)
|
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2024 21:48
|
|
|
Shifty Pony posted:If you tighten down the black threaded piece that the rod passes through to the point where the rod won't move, that will let you figure out whether the issue is the rod moving or the size of the opening in the stopper. Yeah, in the Fix it Fast thread I mentioned I did notice the other day the stopper for the rod wasn't screwed in tightly/correct and I fixed that, drain stopper still loose. It's not impacting the function, it's just annoying.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2024 22:26
|
|
|
Wondering if someone can help me make sense of my home's sewer pipes. I know I've got a clog somewhere down the line, I'm probably just going to call a plumber, but I'll try my little snake first on the off chance it's close to the "house" side of things and my snake will reach. But I'm not sure where to snake from, as you'll soon see. I guess I can just snake everywhere? Here's the drain in the main "wet room", I guess you could call it. Not a real room, but lightly framed (non-load bearing) in the basement with wood paneling around it. Has the water heater, washing machine hookup and standpipe, main vent stack, and all the plumbing for the bathroom. This is the main area the backed-up water is CURRENTLY coming in through (you'll see what I mean son enough):  Clear hose is from my dehumidifier, and orange cord I forgot to move out of frame is just an temp. extension cord for the fans blowing on other wet spots. The toilet and tub feed directly into that pipe just above where the picture was taken. You can see from the wet spots that the water was coming up from the dishwasher standpipe. Closeup:  The clog/blockage is not IN the washing machine standpipe, though, because all that water is from my shower this morning, which as mentioned hits the main stack about five feet above the washer standpipe. My morning shower is how I found out there was more blockage/backed up water from the first time from last weekend. So regarding my previous comments about this being the main wet room/main area of leaking...about ten feet to the right of that drain pipe is this area:   You can see a little bit of water (compared to the gallons that came out in the other room) and it's going towards the right, but I think it came from the left cleanout, BECAUSE: Last weekend, the left cleanout's lid was off, and there was a bunch of water and toilet paper (blech) all in that dirt spot. I cleaned it all up (as far as I could tell, the dirt was JUST dirt. I didn't notice anything else in it, though there certainly must have been other waste in there if there was TP pieces. So whatever "waste" was there at least wasn't in any large, recognizable pieces.) I scraped off all the top layer of dirt and sprayed some sanitizer, and opened the only casement window that opens and put a window fan in it to vent out any lingering sewer gasses. At the time, I thought it leaked because that cleanout lid was loose and it was just some "splash damage" , for lack of a better word. Like...there was just a little bit too much water in the pipe, so it sort of pushed the lid off? I realize now that was a very, very dumb thought cause the sewer line isn't pressurized...well, shouldn't be, at any rate. But now after screwing the left one back as as best I could (VERY rusty threads on the pipe and lid), it looks it's not remotely water tight. Tight enough that now most of the leaking backed up to the washer's standpipe, but it still had some leakage itself. You can't see well in the photo, but when I was looking at it close up, it's very possible I cross-threaded it and that's why I couldn't get it to screw down well, but I also stand by my statement that all the threads are exceedingly rusty, so I might need to get a new cleanout lid. Regardless of my blockage...what's the deal with that second cleanout? Kitchen sink is full across the house, maybe fifteen feet from these cleanouts, sort of straight "behind" where I was standing to take the photo. Like the other "wet room", the kitchen drain goes all the way down and runs under the basement floor to the main sewer line. I can only assume, for whatever reason, the kitchen drain has its own cleanout six inches before it joins the main sewer line? BUT, to get to the bigger question at hand...since that left cleanout lid was obviously leaking, it seems I should just go ahead and start my snaking there? I only have a small hand crank one, maybe 20-25'? Do you think I'll have much luck, or should I just go straight to a plumber?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2024 15:15
|
|
|
Shifty Pony posted:You could dig around it to make sure, but that looks like a house trap to me. It was a way to prevent sewer gases from backing up into the house before it was determined that individual traps on each drain was a much better solution. Ahhh, ok. I looked that up and yeah, that seems to fit, though I'm still confused how the drain from the washing machine/bathroom gets to the right side of the house trap...I guess maybe the U bend in the trap just does deeper into the ground/basement floor than I'm thinking it does and the washer/bath drain goes around the left side? Cause here's the layout from the top-down from what I can SEE, no clue where the pipes are buried under the floor:  The washer/bath drain, sewer line, and house trap are all in a perfect line a few inches from the basement wall. I guess it probably looks something like this under the floor:  ? DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Mar 20, 2024 |
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2024 16:23
|
|
|
PainterofCrap posted:God I remember removing the 4" cast-iron house trap from my friend's house (used a cast cutter) when she had a serious clog there. It was packed with Q-Tips. I trooped her down to the basement while the line was still open and funky and showed why you don't do this. Oh, my girlfriend has admitted to me months ago that she has flushed her hygiene products. I noticed that I never seemed to see them in the bathroom trash, and was wondering if maybe she was just wrapping them up a lot so I didn't notice. But for my sanity, I asked her and she admitted it, so I wasn't paranoid. I asked her to stop for this VERY REASON. She definitely had a blasé "yeah, ok, whatever" attitude about it, so I will ask her to pay the plumber's bill if I can't clear the clog myself.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2024 16:29
|
|
|
Shifty Pony posted:Are you sure that the blue is the sewer out? Like you see it go out towards the street at that point? Well the blue is this big vertical pipe here, and at the top it DOES go out towards the street: I'll admit it does seem odd to me the exit to the sewer is 5' off the floor, but what else would that be? If I zoom in on the original photo, I can see the "Rooter Man" was here in 02 and 04:  60' to street? (That can't be right, I have maybe 20' of front yard, 3' for sidewalk, another 4' for the greenbelt...even if the sewer is on the opposite side of the street I'm on, I feel like there's no way it's more than 40'?) And I can't tell what they wrote about the kitchen sink and tub...Looks like..."ken"? I'll be able to take a real look at it when I get home. Nitrox posted:Do you have an air vent somewhere near the curb, where the house drain pipe meets the city sewer? If so, there is also a trap, and it's probably chock full of feminine hygiene products or whatever you've been flushing. Not that I've ever noticed. Here's the streetview of my curb:  Pretty sure that metal cover on the left side is for electrical/cable/internet. It's all buried lines in my neighborhood.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2024 20:19
|
|
|
Shifty Pony posted:Sewer is unpressurized and only can flow downhill unless you have a grinder pump (and you'd know if you had one of those). That makes entirely more sense. Like...in my heart I knew sewer lines don't (typically ) go up but I figured since I have the regular plumbing stack roof vent, then that certainly couldn't be a vent, so what else would it be? I got the wrong sized clean out cap on my way home*. and I REALLY don't trust I can get either of those brass ones back on if I wrench then off... and since my local Ace closed before I got home, I don't feel like a 20-25 minute drive each way to go to HD or Lowe's, I'll attempt the snaking tomorrow. Low flow water seems to be fine... Nothing gets backed up from a toilet flush , hand wash, or quick wash of a couple dishes. *In my defense, the caps were ABSOLUTELY in the same section of the aisle as the 3" PVC accessories, so either someone mis-stocked two 4" ones in the wrong bin, or they put a bin of 4" PVC caps amongst the 3" PVC stuff and I didn't notice the box said 4", not did I notice they were CLEARLY too big. Seeing as I've been a pretty big idiot about this thing so far... we'll go with the idiot option.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 21, 2024 01:09
|
|
|
Well, I was wrong AGAIN ! The caps there now are not 3" or 4". They're 3.5". Looks like if I want one today and not wait days for it to ship, I'll have to get a brass replacement, and there MAY be a few in stock at my "local" HD, almost a 30 minute drive way. The Lowe's, closer, doesn't seem to have any 3.5" caps. Nor either of the Ace hardware near me. But that's all moot. I can't get the "street" side cap off. It's rusted on GOOD, when with plenty of PB Blaster. I tried off and on for an hour but couldn't get my snake to go around the bends from the house-side clean out. Plumber time, I guess? Edit: got it off, snaked down and maybe felt a tiny bit of resistance at one point? Never pulled anything back. Then a short while later, I wasn't even snaking at the time just trying to clean the threads on the cap and pipe , there was gurgling and a bunch of water in the trap left and went down the sewer pipe. There wasn't any water running/draining anywhere else, so maybe that was a clog working its way out? The water level in the trap is just below the sewer line going out so in theory that means it shouldn't be clogged? I dumped a few gallons of water from old jugs I had filled into the trap, it all went out no problem. I'll run the shower for a few minutes to test if I can get these caps at least temporarily back on enough for me to trust them for said test. I DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 17:31 on Mar 21, 2024 |
|
#
¿
Mar 21, 2024 16:37
|
|
|
Well still hosed. Here's what happened when I drained a tub that was about 1/2 filled after a minute or so: I'm additional to the threads CLEARLY not being remotely tight enough, there really shouldn't be any pressure in the trap like that unless a clog was still there, right? Like... Even if I got two new caps and they were snug, that water shooting out means the water would eventually back up from the washing machine standpipe like it already did the other day?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 21, 2024 17:55
|
|
|
Nitrox posted:Wyatt do you think happened to the clog? Of course it's still there I think he's there, mocking me. I'm getting a plumber who can snake the whole 60' if needed, maybe tomorrow, maybe not till next week. But I at least fixed the cap issue:  I think they're technically designed for temp use to pressure test systems, but they're snug enough here. The inside threads of both cleanouts were hosed, hosed long before I started loving with them. Here are the two caps...the left/house one looks like a regular breeze 3.5" cap, the other is some kind of 4" lead cap originally, then cut/tapered down to like 3.25":  The clog isn't a complete blockage, so I can flush my toilet and wash my hands until a plumber gets here. I even took a brief, 3 minute, shower and no water leaking/backing up anywhere. I'm not about to test a longer shower or the washing machine.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 21, 2024 22:50
|
|
|
Maybe a couple small trees? It looks like the sewer line goes out the side of my house, under my driveway, and then turns to go to the street where I assume the town sewer line is. There's a small cedar tree in my neighbor's yard next to my driveway, and a small birch tree in the greenbelt, but based off the direction the sewer line goes, that's likely not an issue?  Just don't think either tree is big enough/the right type for root infiltration?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 23, 2024 17:04
|
|
|
The plumber came and, from what they could tell, the clog was mainly from an old scrap of fabric that was flushed at some point. I'm genuinely wondering if the initial start was years ago before I got the place, and then just years of the clog slowly getting more bits of congealed grease, wipes, and other things eventually got it large enough to cause a backup. I know I mentioned my GF has admitted to flushing feminine hygiene products since we've lived here, but I know she would never intentionally flush a freakin' (roughly) 4x4" piece of rag. And according to the plumber it was like 55' down the pipe...5' feet before it would have been the city's problem!
|
|
#
¿
Mar 27, 2024 18:19
|
|
|
To add to the pile of "plumbing things that make little to no sense at first glance", the P-trap on my bathroom sink is slightly leaking where the p-trap assembly meets the drain from hte sink, i.e. where the white PVC meets the black: It's only started this very recently (past few days) because I normally keep the spare TP under there and only this last weekend did I notice one of the spare rolls was wet. I tightened the nut, still was leaking. I undid it all and put it back together a little less tight since I know that being too tight could be an issue if it slightly deforms the washer or pipe. Still leaking. I know it also looks like it's leaking at the lower nut/washer too, but I'm 90% sure that's just dripping from above. Two weird things about this: 1) It doesn't leak when I'm running water. I had water running for a couple minutes, and I didn't notice ANY water pooling/leaking at the connection. But anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes later, the water will be pooling there. And 2) In theory, there shouldn't be standing water that high above the P-trap since, gravity and water pressure behaving as they do, the drain is below the level of where the pipes meet, right? So why is it backing up that high? So maybe I got a small clog in the pipe and it's restricting flow? I'll try to snake it, it meets with the big drain pipe just a couple feet to the right from the toilet, so thankfully it's not NEARLY the amount of pipe I have to try and snake like when my whole house drain got backed up. This would also explain why it hasn't always been leaking since it's been installed and only done it recently. But I still want to resolve the leak even if I fix the drainage issue. I did notice both when I installed it and trying to fix it over the weekend that the part of the drain from the sink did seem a little smaller than the 1 1/4" it should be. When I installed it, I actually thought it was only 1", but that was too small to fit, but I figured the kit with the "better" red rubber washers would seal better, but I guess not? Should I just wrap the end where the washer slips over a few times in teflon tape? Or pipe dope?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 15, 2024 18:35
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 18:29 |
|
|
Nitrox posted:Check to make sure there are no giant hairballs in the trap, those usually clog up first. The trap has been 100% empty (well, except when there's water in it) every time I checked it, so if there's a clog, it has to be further down the line. Like I only, only a couple feet of pipe till it meets the bathroom vent stack pipe so not a lot of space to hide. And no water from the connections to the stopper lever or vanity handles. Just from the downspout/P-trap. And again...NOT WHEN WATER IS RUNNING, it won't show until 10-15 minutes later. Didn't get a chance to dig more into it this week cause other life issues got in the way, so I'll investigate more this weekend. I'll snake the drain to where it hits the vent stack, and the re-assemble with some pipe dope on new washers and see if that helps.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 19, 2024 15:59
|
|